Burton Bridge XL Mild
Burton Bridge Brewery

The second beer tasted at the Oakdale Arms' Easter Beer Festival, on 17/04/06. Gravity-dispensed. The beer note says: "Brewed as XL bitter but with the addition of caramel to reduce the bitterness and increase the colour", so it's XL Bitter's sister for sure.

A: ebony hue with caramel-red glows on the edge, coming with very faint beer head but overall looking elegant and fresh.
S: Bitter's smell of earthy hops with a touch of caramel, plus a grassy+floral hoppy hints tat the back to complement the maltiness just fine~~
T: lightly sour-sweet dark maltiness, berry-fruits, slightly burned flavour, balanced by a floral and bitter hoppy aftertaste which intensifies towards a very dry and slightly tannic finish. The beer note is right, this beer does taste more like a bitter than a traditional mild~~
M&D: very light-bodied and slightly watery on the mouthfeel; the loss on the structure is compensated for by the pleasant addition of bitterness for this unusual mild. Much less roasty than a usual mild, it's all the more drinkable thanks to the lingering and profound bitterness imparted by its predecessor, XL Bitter.